Carving simulator for alpine skiing

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to sports training devices, specifically to carving simulators for alpine skiing. A simulator includes a base having arcuate guide rails, a movable platform disposed thereon with leg platforms, which are rotatably installed on bearing walls, a support post having a horizontal section and a dynamic suspension. The dynamic suspension consists of a safety belt with an elastic suspension halyard connected to a roller drive mechanism installed in a cavity of a tubular horizontal section of the support post.

This nonprovisional application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/UA2020/000099, which was filed on Nov. 18, 2020, and which claims priority to Ukrainian Patent Application No. 2020 04829, which was filed in Ukraine on Jul. 28, 2020, and which are both herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The invention relates to sports training devices, specifically to carving simulators for alpine skiing.

Description of the Background Art

It is known that during downhill skiing, several external and internal forces act on an athlete, and when the skier is turning, two main external forces centrifugal and centripetal act on him or her. The athlete achieves the best results only if these forces, as well as the vector of their action, are counteracted efficiently and correctly. That is why the design of most simulators for alpine skiing focuses on the efforts of the athlete to counteract the vectors of these forces more accurately and efficiently, that is, with the correct position of the torso, legs, and arms of the skier. The role of these simulators is especially important when working with young novice athletes, for whom the correct body position is the primary task at the initial stage of training when the muscular and articular memory is developed for the future. In addition, the need to work on the body position is also important for those who start practicing alpine skiing in adulthood.

Many different training devices are known in the art to train alpine skiing athletes. For example, a simulated ski motion machine is known in the art (U.S. Pat. No. 7,935,033, Int. Cl. A63B 69/18, publ. Mar. 5, 2011). It is designed as two arching rails in a horizontal plane, located on a frame, which, in turn, is placed at an angle to the horizontal plane. A movable carriage having two footrests is installed on rails. Footrests rotatable around the horizontal axis are mounted on the carriage. There are handrails to hold the skier. The carriage is connected to the frame through elastic elements which return it from the extreme position to the central one.

The disadvantage of this design is that the range of motion of the skier's legs between extreme positions is very small, resulting in a slight angulation of the knees inside the turn. Because of this, the feet, as a projection of the skis, deviate from the horizontal plane by a small angle, i.e. the skis return at a very small angle, while the modern carve turn technique requires a maximum angulation of the knees inside the turn (toward its center).

The prior art also knows a ski simulator or snowboard simulator (see Application US No 2014243162A1, Int. Cl. A63B 69/18, Pub. date Aug. 28, 2014), which according to its embodiment has two horizontally arched rails located on the frame. A movable carriage having two foot platforms is installed on rails. Foot platforms with the possibility of rotation around the horizontal axis are mounted on the carriage. To support the skier, there are movable imitators of ski poles. The carriage is connected to the frame with elastic elements which return it from extreme positions to the central position.

The disadvantage of this simulator is also the small range of motion of the skiers legs between extreme positions as in the above prior art. In addition, a saddle available in this simulator significantly reduces the load on the skier's legs, thus reducing the training efficiency.

The prior art also knows a ski exercising and training apparatus (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,090,621, Int. Cl. A63B 69/18, Pub. date Aug. 15, 2006) which is designed as two arching rails in a vertical plane, located on a frame, wherein the ends of the arcs are located below their central part. A movable carriage having two foot platforms is installed on rails. Foot platforms rotatable around the horizontal axis are mounted on the carriage. There are handrails to support the skier. The carriage is connected to the frame with elastic elements which return it from extreme positions to the central position.

The disadvantage of this design is that the skier moves to extreme positions actually in a straight line in the vertical plane, thus the feet are always in the same plane-parallel position with a very small angle of inclination. As a result, in extreme positions, the outer leg is almost completely extended, which is unacceptable from the modern downhill skiing technique point of view.

The prior art also knows Koshutin's simulator for downhill skiers and slalomists (see the Ukrainian utility model patent No. 72443, Cl. A63B 69/18, Pub. date Aug. 27, 2012), comprising the principal platform and connected platforms with the ski bindings, wherein these platforms may displace to the right or to the left with simultaneous rotation clockwise or counterclockwise, wherein additional platforms are installed between the principal platform and connected platforms with ski bindings for simulating one of the positions or inclination of the skis or a body of a skier, wherein the harness is attached to the skier's body and connected to the dynamic support.

The disadvantages of the prior art include a too complex system of platforms, which consists of a large number of constituent elements, complicating its maintenance and increasing the size of the simulator and its cost. During the training of an athlete, the parallelism of the shins is not fixed, which can lead to the development of false muscle memory of the X-shaped position of the legs, and an athlete must train only in ski shoes due to the availability of ski bindings on the platforms. In addition, the dynamic suspension is connected to the fixed support through sheaves, which slows down its response to the movements of a skier.

The closest prior art in terms of essential features is a carving simulator, comprising a base having arcuate guide rails, a movable platform disposed thereon with leg platforms which are rotatably installed on bearing walls thereof, a support post having a dynamic suspension fixed to its horizontal section, wherein a dynamic suspension consists of a safety belt with a connected elastic suspension halyard which ends are rigidly fixed to a horizontal section of a dynamic suspension (Ukrainian utility model patent No. 111567, Cl. A63B 69/18, Pub. date Nov. 10, 2016).

The disadvantage of this design, chosen as the closest prior art, is the fact that the rigid fixation of the ends of the elastic suspension halyard limits the mobility of an athlete when performing the avalement turn or speed carving, slows down the speed of his/her reaction due to the counteraction of the stretched part of the elastic suspension halyard.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The proposed technical solution is aimed to make the known design of the carving simulator more convenient and able to provide a quick response of the dynamic suspension to the movements of an athlete allowing an athlete, including professional athletes, to train efficiently.

The task is solved with a carving simulator for alpine skiing, comprising a base having arcuate guide rails, a movable platform disposed thereon with leg platforms which are rotatably installed on bearing walls thereof, a support post having a dynamic suspension for an athlete fixed to its horizontal section, wherein a dynamic suspension consists of a safety belt with a connected suspension halyard which according to this technical solution is connected to a horizontal section of a support post and is movable due to a roller drive mechanism According to the specific embodiment, the roller drive mechanism is installed inside the tubular horizontal section of the support post with the tension rollers installed in its cavity and dynamically connected with the suspension halyard, arcuate guide rails are made with a rise in their central part relative to the horizontal plane and can be made with opposite bending of their side parts, providing that the central part of the rails is above their side parts. The above task is also solved with bearing walls of the movable platform and leg platforms made inclined forward at an angle of 5-25 degrees to the vertical axis, and the axis of leg platforms rotation is at an angle of 5-25 degrees to the horizontal plane; as well as with the simulator base that can be additionally equipped with the movable holders having their drive mechanism and the slalom poles installed in them to simulate real slalom track conditions.

When the suspension halyard is connected to the horizontal section of the dynamic suspension through a roller drive mechanism this allows the suspension halyard to move freely during sudden “pendulum” movements of an athlete, without restricting him or her in his or her actions, while reliably suspending his or her body. And according to the embodiment when the suspension halyard is made of elastic material this softens the dynamics of athlete's movement, not allowing gravity to act on him or her. According to the inventor, when the roller drive mechanism is installed inside the tubular horizontal section of the support post with tension rollers installed in its cavity and dynamically connected with the suspension halyard, this is the most optimal technical solution in terms of ergonomics. When arcuate guide rails are made with a rise in their central part relative to the horizontal plane and with opposite bending of their side parts, providing that the central part of the rails is above their side parts, this creates such conditions for training that are close to the real conditions of moving downhill, whereas when the movable platform and leg platforms are made with bearing walls (front and rear) inclined forward at an angle of 5-25 degrees this corresponds to the natural inclination of the skier's shins, since the ski boots have a forward lean angle of 13-17 degrees. Since the front and rear bearing walls of the leg platforms are inclined forward, the axis of rotation of the movable leg platforms will be deflected by the same angle of 5-25 degrees to the horizontal plane. In addition, the bearing walls of movable platforms have different lengths: the wall corresponding to the heel of the boot is longer. Due to the fact that the walls have different lengths when the movable platforms move around the axis of rotation, they will have different amplitudes along the radius, i.e. the heel forward swing of the fixed foot (boot) of the skier will be greater than the toe forward swing. When the leg platform moves sidewards in a full swing at an angle of 90 degrees, this value will be equal to the same 5-25 degrees. Thus, when moving to the right and left relative to its own axis, the base of the movable platform within its line from the toe to the heel will deviate at an angle from 0 to 25 degrees in projection onto a horizontal plane. When viewed from the side in a vertical plane, due to the fact that the axes of rotation of the moving platforms are deviated by 5-25 degrees, when moving to the right and left, the heel of the foot (boot) of the skier will rise above the toe of the foot (boot) and also reach the same value at maximum forward swing as in the horizontal plane, and the movable platform will move in the range from 0 to 25 degrees. At the moment of the greatest deviation to the right or left (which corresponds to the most active phase of the turn), the heel of the foot rises above the toe, the movable leg platform and, as a result, both feet and skis, simulate movement along a slope of 25 degrees, which corresponds the track with a slope of up to 46.6 degrees. When moving along the guide rails, the movable platforms also shift (return) to the right and left by the same 5-25 degrees at the extreme points, which makes feet (skis) parallel to the line of the track slope exactly in the most active phase of the turn. Also, the simulator additionally comprises movable holders installed on its base having their drive mechanism and slalom poles installed in them to simulate interaction with them when an athlete is skiing down the slalom track, i.e. the movement of the movable platform to the right or left will cause the rise of the slalom pole toward an athlete. The suspension halyard of the dynamic suspension can be inelastic or elastic, made of latex, rubber, elastic cord, leather, etc., which allows it to respond faster to the movements of the athlete. The elasticity of the halyard is selected depending on the weight and intensity of the exercises. The use of an inelastic suspension halyard of the dynamic suspension allows the athlete to be statically suspended in order to muscularly fix the required body position in one or another phase of the turn. The width of the legs can be changed depending on the age and height of the athlete and the used technique. Leg platforms have protruding parts that fix the shins, which is important when working with beginner athletes and children at the initial stage of training, to fix the muscular and articular memory of the movement of the legs when turning, and also to avoid a gross mistake in the future when the knees of the legs are brought together in the so-called X-shaped position, which does not make it possible to evenly unweight the skis when turning. When using the proposed guide rails on the simulator, the skier, who moves along them, will need to tighten the legs in the middle of the arc of the simulator (which corresponds to the active phase of edging between turns), and this will entail a slight lean back, which exactly corresponds to the avalement technique or quick edging due to their sudden bending.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The essence of the invention is explained with the help of the following drawings:

FIG. 1 —A carving simulator for alpine skiing (front view);

FIG. 2 —A carving simulator for alpine skiing (top view);

FIG. 3 —A carving simulator for alpine skiing (side view);

FIG. 4 —A horizontal section of a dynamic suspension with a roller drive mechanism;

FIG. 5 —A main platform with rotating leg platforms;

FIG. 6 —A carving simulator for alpine skiing with slalom poles, simulating poles on the track, and their drive mechanism;

FIG. 7 —A front view of a carving simulator for alpine skiing with rails made with a rise in their central part and with the opposite bending of their side parts; and

FIG. 8 —A carving simulator for alpine skiing (general view).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A carving simulator comprises a base 1 having rigidly fixed arcuate guide rails 2 with a movable platform 4 installed thereon with the help of roller wheels 3 with front 5 and rear 6 bearing walls, on which, in turn, the leg platforms 7 are rotatably installed with protruding element 8 to support the athlete's shins. The movable platform 4 is connected to the base 1 by an elastic cord 9, which counteracts the centrifugal force and the reaction of the movable platform 4, returning it to its central position. A support post 10 with a tubular horizontal section 11 is fixed on the base 1. Arcuate guide rails 2 have a length of about 3 meters, allowing an athlete to move to the right and left with maximum amplitude, simulating real track conditions, wherein guide rails 2 are arcuate in the horizontal plane and are made with a rise in their central part 12 relative to the horizontal plane and may be made with opposite bending of their side parts 13, providing that the central part 12 of the rails is above their side parts 13 (FIG. 7 ), This increases the edge angle of the skis (feet), which corresponds to the sport turns and more accurately simulates the state of an athlete's body in the active phase of the turn when he or she attacks the slalom poles installed on the slope. An additional (removable) support 14 can be fixed on the base 1 of the simulator to maintain the balance of an athlete. The simulator is equipped with the dynamic suspension which consists of a safety belt 15 with an elastic suspension halyard 16 fixed to it and connected to a roller drive mechanism which consists (FIG. 4 ) of four tension rollers 17 installed in a cavity of the tubular horizontal section 11 of the support post 10. When moving, a skier is actually suspended on the dynamic suspension, which simulates the counteraction to the centripetal force and gravity and does not allow the athlete to fall. Thus, the athlete, moving along the guide rails to the right and left and being suspended on the dynamic suspension, will be able to freely imitate the alpine skiing turn technique in general. According to another embodiment, the proposed simulator comprises additional equipment designed exclusively for athletes who train for slalom and giant slalom (FIG. 7 ) Additional equipment is installed in front of the athlete and is attached to the base 1 of the simulator using a hinge mechanism 18. The main bearing element is the movable holders 19 with the slalom poles 20 installed thereon. Movable holders 19 are mounted on the hinges of the hinge mechanism 18, providing that the distance between the hinges of the hinge mechanism can be changed. In the free position, slalom poles are tilted forward from the skier and away from the vertical plane. Movable holders 19 are connected to a lever 21 for lifting them. The lever 21 is made in the shape of a triangle and has several holes for changing the lever arm. One end of an elastic cord 22 is attached to a lever 21 and then its other end is attached to the movable platform 4 through a system of sheaves 23.

The carving simulators for alpine skiing in accordance with the claimed invention is used as follows.

First, an athlete puts on the safety belt 15 in such a way that the anchor points of the suspension halyards 16 to the belt are placed opposite the hip joints and its lower strap passes below the gluteal muscles to hold the athlete's body in a better way. The athlete stands on the leg platforms installed on the movable platform 4 and fastens the ends of the suspension halyards 16 to the safety belt 15. Then the athlete begins to swing the movable platform 4 to the right and left making pendulum movements, moving right and left on the wheels of the movable platform 4 along arched rails 2. At the same time, the suspension halyard 16 moves inside the tubular horizontal section 11 of the support post 10 along tension rollers 17 installed in its cavity. The elastic cord 9 helps the athlete return to his or her starting position and, after stretching, it pushes the skier to the center of the simulator. When performing the exercises, novice athletes can hold on to the additional support 14 to maintain their balance, whereas advanced athletes can do the exercises with or without slalom poles. Athletes can imitate various techniques of alpine skiing, for example, they can take a downhill skiing stance and practice the turns corresponding to this discipline. Additionally, for example, when the athlete is in a suspended turn stance (hanging on the elastic suspension halyard), in one turn, he or she can change the angle of attack and edging with a direct swinging both by using his or her own weight and due to external influence (with the help of a coach). Another important aspect of working with a simulator is static work. This is especially important for beginners. The elastic suspension halyard 16 is replaced with the non-elastic halyard having an adjustable length. After that, the skier is suspended in the turn and the coach or instructor can set the correct stance corresponding to the moment of the turn, i.e. physically correct the position of the legs and arms and set the correct angulation and position of the athlete's body. To practice the avalement turn or speed carving technique by a sudden flexion and extension of the knees, the design provides for the replacement of the shape of guide rails with rails having a bend in their central part 12 in the horizontal plane and a possible opposite bend in their side parts 13. When using such guide rails for the simulator, the athlete, moving along them in the middle of the arc of the simulator (which corresponds to the active phase of edging between turns), tightens his legs. To practice slalom or giant slalom, additional equipment including slalom poles 20 and their drive mechanism is installed on the carving simulator for alpine skiing. During the movement of the platform to the right or left, the elastic cord 22 is pulled and pulls the lever 21, resulting in the rise of movable holders 19 with slalom poles 20 toward the athlete, thereby simulating their attack, which corresponds to the passage of the track on a real slope. Movable holders 19 with slalom poles 20 rise toward the athlete one by one, depending on the position of the movable platform 4. The sequence of lifting movable holders 19 can be changed by changing the ends of the elastic cord 22, attached to the levers 21, from right to left. To practice the slalom technique, the right holder is used when the movable platform 4 is positioned on the right (the left holder is used when the platform is on the left), therefore, in this case, the holder 19 will rise toward the athlete's body; and on the contrary, in the case of giant slalom training, the left holder 19 is used when the movable platform 4 is positioned on the right, and, accordingly, the right holder is used when it is on the left, i.e. the holder will rise toward the athlete's shoulder and forearm, which corresponds to the technique of passing sports tracks in these disciplines.

Thus, the proposed invention allows to create a simple and easy-to-maintain carving simulator for alpine skiing, aimed at developing the muscle memory of the athlete to perform a correct modern carving turn: provides a quick response of the dynamic suspension to the movements of the athlete, ensuring the correct inclination of the lower leg forward; and also makes it possible for the athlete to practice the avalement turn technique or fast edging, slalom and giant slalom turns, and for the coach—to establish the correct position of the athlete's body in one or another phase of the turn, both in dynamics and in the static suspended state. The author's experience shows that such changes in the design help both beginners and advanced skiers learn and develop the skills of a modern carving turn much faster through repeated repetition of exercises that directly affect the muscular and articular memory of the skier and develop the coordination, accuracy, and automatism of movements and, as a result, this ensures quick and error-free transition of reinforced skills into actions in real conditions. 

1. A carving simulator for alpine skiing, comprising a base having arcuate guide rails, a movable platform disposed thereon with leg platforms which are rotatably installed on bearing walls thereof, a support post having a dynamic suspension fixed to a horizontal section of the dynamic suspension, a safety belt with a connected suspension halyard, wherein the suspension halyard is connected to a horizontal section of a support post and is movable due to a roller drive mechanism.
 2. The carving simulator for alpine skiing according to claim 1, wherein the roller drive mechanism is installed inside the tubular horizontal section of the support post with the tension rollers installed in a cavity and dynamically connected with the suspension halyard.
 3. The carving simulator for alpine skiing according to claim 1, wherein the arcuate guide rails are made with a rise in a central part relative to the horizontal plane and can be made with opposite bending of side parts, and wherein the central part of the rails is configured above their side parts.
 4. The carving simulator for alpine skiing according to claim 1, wherein bearing walls of the movable platform and the leg platforms are inclined forward at an angle of 5-25 degrees to the vertical axis, and the axis of rotation of the leg platforms is at an angle of 5-25 degrees to the horizontal plane.
 5. The carving simulator for alpine skiing according to claim 1, wherein the base is further comprises movable holders having a drive mechanism and slalom poles. 